


Somebody Make A Move

by KarrieBW



Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Darker Wammy's House, F/M, Female!A, Gen, Major character death - Freeform, Suicide, Wammy's Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23134516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KarrieBW/pseuds/KarrieBW
Summary: The event of Alternative's suicide, as described by Backup.Or, the day Beyond lost the most important person to him, Alice.
Relationships: A & Beyond Birthday, A/Beyond Birthday, L & Near | Nate River
Comments: 9
Kudos: 10





	Somebody Make A Move

Today is not like every other day.

I mean, yes, Alice’s eyes seemed much too tired, like always, and her movements seemed relatively lethargic from exhaustion, but even so…

I just can’t get the idea that something is very wrong tonight out of my head. We were sitting in our shared room as usual, discussing. Actually, tonight we were discussing. At other times, we might have just sat silently, without talking. These times, I understood her perfectly. It would have been impossible to be in the mood for talking after never-ending hours of studying.

His highness has also graced us with his presence tonight, but I talked Alice into not going downstairs to admire him along with everyone else. Either way, the only thing he’d do once he saw her would be to load her with even more work…

“B, there’s something I need to tell you”. Alice suddenly said.

“You just did”. I replied, sinking my hand into my strawberry jam-filled vase.

She smiled slightly, playing somewhat nervously with the hem of her skirt.

“It’s nothing important. I just wanted to tell you that…all these years we’ve known each other… we’ve practically grown up together. I just wanted you to know that I…I…I appreciate your company deeply”.

I swallowed the remaining jam in my mouth slowly.

These days I check on Alice’s numbers way too regularly. I’m worried about her. But her numbers seem perfectly normal. According to them, Alice won’t die until she’s of very old age. That should reassure me. But for some reason, every time I look above her head I get more and more troubled.

“Really?” I ask slowly.

She nods affirmatively.

“I’m glad that the feeling is mutual, then”. I told her, smiling.

I cleaned whatever traces of jam remained on my fingers with my tongue and started thinking. I looked above her hear again…

Alice After…1129047…Her numbers show that she won’t die until she’s at least 90 years old. But her words make me suspect something very different than the fate my eyes are telling me.

I wonder…Would the numbers change if…

I leave my half-empty vase on the floor.

“Alice…” I always call her by her real name when it’s just the two of us (the letter ‘A’ simply degrades her as a person, it’s not even a name). “…Do you trust me?”

“But…but of course! Didn’t you listen to anything I just said, B?”

“Good. Then, you’ll let me try a little experiment on you, right?”

“E-experiment? What do you mean…-?”

Without letting her speak, I put all of my weight on her, making her fall with her back on the bed, trapped underneath me. My hands are wrapped around the fragile front of her neck in an instant, squeezing and pressing hard. She fights back, as it’s natural for any human being to do. Who’d want their life taken? Her skinny hands grab my wrists, trying to make me let go of her neck. Some chocking sounds escape her pale lips and she desperately attempts to shout my name a time or two. (Not the real one, just the letter that this bastard has reduced us to.)

My eyes are glued above her head the whole time we stay like that.

1129047…No digit has changed.

I estimate that if I don’t release her at about 2 seconds, I’ll kill her. Even so, the numbers refuse to change. Even now that she’s almost dead…Why?

That can only mean one thing; Alice is bound to die due to natural causes. But my eyes are unable to warn me about the other, unpredictable causes.

My hands free her neck and I get off her quickly.

Thus, from now on I should look after her.

The reason why she practically waved goodbye at me tonight is because she plans on doing something stupid. Something immature that doesn’t fit her calm and introverted personality. I won’t let her do it. I won’t let her be defeated by L! If she dies, the only thing she’ll accomplish will be to make him the winner, because she’ll have proved to him that she wasn’t fit for the successor’s position from the start. But I won’t let her do it. We’ll surpass L together.

“Interesting…”I conclude and return to my side of the room, without forgetting to pick up my vase from the floor, of course. “Sleep, Alice, my dear, a hard day awaits us tomorrow. Do you know how many classes we have?”

I turn off the lights, leaving her to stare at me with mixed surprise and fear.

It’s perfectly reasonable for her to fear me now. But I know she won’t tell anyone about what I just did to her. So, I don’t have to worry about Lawly hearing of this.

The afternoon class is boring as usual. The fact that there’s only three of us sure doesn’t help. However, what made me wake up form my metaphorical slumber today was Alice. She rose her hand in the middle of the class and asked if she could go outside for a while. Which is very strange and suspicious of her, if you ask me, because she never misses a second from class. Mrs. Lidell lets her go. 

I knew I shouldn’t have let her out of my sight. But I couldn’t ask for permission to get out of the classroom immediately after her. There’s no way Mrs. Lidell would let me.

The next 10 minutes were the most slow and torturous 10 minutes of my life. Each second seemed like a whole hour. Where the hell is she? Why isn’t she back yet? If she’s already done something stupid it’ll be my fault for not getting out of the class earlier!

“Backup, could you please answer question number 6?” Mrs. Lidell’s voice woke me up.

I don’t have time for questions! I need to see Alice’s numbers to make sure she’s alright!

I lift my eyes from the desk and stare silently at the professor for a few moments. Then, without saying a word to her I abandon my books and pens on the desk and leave the classroom running, without even closing the door behind me.

“Backup!” I heard Mrs. Lidell yell, but I didn’t care.

“B!” Copycat yelled behind me too.

I don’t have the time for those two!

I need to find Alice at all costs!

I was running in the halls of the orphanage like a madman. I have to think quickly; if I were Alice, and I was looking for a place to commit suicide, where would I go?

The library is one of her favourite places, but I immediately crossed the thought out of my mind, because it’s a place anyone can get in at any time. Alice is going to need a quiet and secluded room. Such as…

…the attic!

I instantly changed direction, ascending the snake-like set of stairs leading to the dark attic. I got there in less than two minutes. I looked thoroughly inside the attic but I couldn’t find Alice anywhere. Then there’s only one place left to check; our room. I felt a sharp pain on my ribs, which I ignored. I left the attic and started running towards our shared room. I reached our door completely out of breath and got in without knocking. What I witnessed was exactly what I wanted to prevent from happening.

Alice was laying in the middle of the room. There were big, red blood stains next to her bloody wrists and a small, sharp razor was on the floor. I looked above her head. Her numbers have changed!

401006…

She only has a few seconds of life left!

“Alice!” I screamed, running towards her.

I wrapped my arms around her and put her head on my knees. I noticed that her round glasses had fallen from her pale face.

“Alice, why’d you do that? No, don’t speak, I have to find something to stop the bleeding. You…you hold on!”

My eyes looked around desperately, trying to find something that would stop the blood from flowing out of Alice’s wrists like a river. She, however, seemed strangely calm. She gave me a weak smile and her cold fingers traced my cheek.

“Beyond…”She whispered softly, so softly that I almost didn’t hear her.

She didn’t say ‘B’, or ‘Backup’, she said my real name.

“I…I’m glad that the last face I see…is yours…”

“Don’t say that! I have to get help and… and you’ll be alright!” I said, but really, I don’t even know whether I, myself, believed it.

3 seconds…

She lifted her head off my knees. Her lips brushed my cheek gently, like a caress.

“…There’s no point…I failed…” She whispered…and…she left her last breath in my arms.

“Alice!” I shouted the name of the girl who could no longer hear me. “ALICE!”

I don’t know how many times I kept screaming her name pointlessly.

I supported my forehead on her frozen one, and tightened my hold on her lifeless body. As if she’d come back to life if I held her more tightly. It was at that moment that I realised, I would never be able to hear her sweet laugh again. I would never be able to scare her just to see how cute she is when she is scared. I would never be able to comfort her after a nightmare by hugging her…

AND IT’S ALL L’S FAULT!

It’s his fault that Alice threw her life in the trash! If it weren’t for him and his damn ‘succession program’, Alice would still be alive! If he didn’t put so much pressure on her, if he hadn’t wanted her to be absolutely flawless, if he didn’t want her to be a robot, forgetting she’s a human! It’s like I can hear his boring voice;

_“Alternative, you can’t become the next L with such grades. Please compose yourself and study harder”._

And things just got worse when the kid-wonder, little Nate, joined our cheery company. Since then, L started using the six-year old as a yardstick to compare Alice to. The whole situation made her more and more anxious… She had reached the point of having constant panic attacks for a time period…

One day, I talked to L about this matter. It was the day she had to learn the solutions to 10 cases by heart for an exam.

_“Do you really think Alice doesn’t try, Lawly?”_

_He, as usual, was eating some sort of sweet in front of his computer, and didn’t even bother to spare me a glance._

_Little Nate was sitting next to his legs, examining a closed case with a dismembered corpse._

_“I never said Alternative is not trying, Backup. I am only saying she is not trying hard enough”._

_“Tell me something, Lawly; since little Nate over here has already proven to be the kid-wonder, why don’t you make him learn by heart those 10 cases?” I demanded to know._

_The eight-year old wasn’t bothered in the slightest by the tone of my voice and continued to stare at the papers laid in front of him. But L looked at me this time._

_“Because there is no need. I have already given Near 9 out of those cases and he has solved each successfully, without having to learn their solutions by heart”._

_“10”. Nate said and gave a few handwritten notes to L._

_“Perhaps it is time for you to understand that Alternative and you are first and second respectively on the rankings because you are also the oldest of age here”._

_After that, his time for me was over. He stopped looking at me and turned to check little Nate’s notes._

_Seething with anger, I turned my back on them and slammed the office door hard behind me._

At some point, while I was still holding Alice’s corpse, I heard footsteps coming from the hallway. In the still-open room’s entrance stood the one responsible for all the misfortunes that each child has to face here. The one responsible for Alice’s death. In his arms, he held all of his pride, his most prized experiment, his star.

They seem to have come to solve the crime of Alice’s death. A crime that poor little Nate doesn’t know his precious idol has committed.

“Backup, what is happening here?” He demanded immediately once he arrived. “I heard shouting and…what happened to Alternative?”

His only reaction was to slightly widen his eyes. He doesn’t give a damn that Alice took her life because of him.

A huge smile was spread across my face and I lifted my head to look at him.

“Ha, ha! You dare ask what happened? This is almost comical!”

No change to any member of the duo’s behaviour.

“I asked you a question, Backup”.

And that continuous repetition of that horrible name he’s given me… He’s doing it on purpose…To remind me how little a human life – Alice’s life – is worth to him. How all of the children here serve as nothing more than experiments. The most successful experiment wins his place and the obligation to continue his work. And as for the failures, they are thrown away without a second thought.

“Backup”.

This time, the one who called me wasn’t him, but little Nate. He’s the only one out of the orphans who dares to call me that…

“You’re a hypocrite, Lawly”. I say suddenly and get up from the floor, putting Alice down. “You tell all children here that your way in life is the right one. You go so far as to call yourself ‘justice’. But in reality, the truth is very, very far from your bragging. A criminal doesn’t have the right to call himself justice”.

“I don’t see how my actions are related to Alternative’s death”.

“I DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR ACTIONS, L!” I growled. “I don’t care how you solve your cases! I don’t care even if you kill to solve a case! What I care about is that you’re responsible for Alice’s death! Anyone who’s responsible for someone else’s death is a criminal! AND IT’S YOUR FAULT ALICE IS DEAD!”

“You are exaggerating , as always”. Nate suddenly spoke up, completely calm. “The case that Alternative had been a weak individual from the beginning, which would have rendered her unfit for the successor’s position, is also possible”.

The only thing that kept me from lashing out on both of them to make them pay for Alice’s death is the fact that Nate is still a child. (Even if his behaviour is trying so very hard to prove otherwise.) Alice’s death is not his fault. It’s L’s. L is the one who takes innocent children and transforms them into machines with no emotions in order to continue his dismal work. Just like he has done with little Nate. Just like he wanted to do with Alice.

“Near”. L said in a supposedly scolding tone. “Alternative’s position as my successor does not change the fact that a human life was lost. Alternative…had both an excellent mind and a personality at the same time. It really is a pity for a person with so bright a future to end up like that. I am sorry, Backup. I know you two were close”. 

He made to leave the room as indifferently as he had entered. Like he hadn’t just seen the corpse of his first successor laid across the floor.

“LIAR!” I screamed after them. L stopped walking and turned to me. Both of them stared at me intensely and I stared back. “You’re not sorry at all, I know! People who feel sorry don’t act like you do! No, you’re probably happy with the situation, aren’t you? Now there’s no need to pressure little Nate by having him be third! You’ll finally be able to rightfully put him in the first place!”

Both of them remained expressionless. In the end of the day, L has managed to turn a small child into an exact copy of himself.

“Let’s go, Near”. He emphasised the hideous pseudonym he has given to Nate because he knows how much I despise hearing it. “I have to inform Watari and Roger for the occurrence and tell Watari to make the preparations for the funeral tomorrow”.

“Certainly, they must be informed as soon as possible”.

‘Occurrence’? Is that how he deals with the death of a person?

I saw them leaving and then I closed the door audibly, locking it.

I have never been really religious, but the whole matter makes me wonder; God, or whoever the hell is watching us, can he not see that it’s unfair? Is it not unfair for people like L Lawliet to roam free and never pay for their crimes, while people like Alice After choose the liberation of death because of them?

I crouched down over Alice’s motionless body again. I wanted something to remember her by. Whatever I want to take, I have to take it now. Now that Alice is out of the running, there’s a great possibility that he’ll try to get rid of me too. Maybe even tomorrow. Then there won’t be any more ‘failed experiments’ in the way and his dear star (or rather, his copy) will be free to keep the first place without any problems.

I unbuttoned the silver chain Alice was always wearing around her neck with the calligraphic ‘A’ dangling at the end of the chain. I admired the small necklace for a little bit before I folded it and put it inside the pocket of my jeans. I took her soulless body in my arms, lifted her and set her gently on the bed. I covered her with her blanket and made sure that, had she been alive, she would have been comfortable. I searched on the floor and found her round glasses abandoned in a corner. Unfortunately, the right lens was a little broken. I cleared them as best as I could with the fabric of my shirt and put them carefully on her pale face.

I moved aside some of her bangs and kissed her forehead.

“Don’t worry, Alice”. I whispered. “I won’t let this go, I promise”.

I took a jar of jam from my drawer and got out of the room.

I didn’t sleep at all during the night.

I was walking around the huge garden of the orphanage, thinking. I was about to cross the perimeter of the garden for the 20th time when I heard Roger calling me.

“B, L has asked for a meeting with you before Alternative’s funeral”.

Just as I calculated, L already wants me gone. The fact that Roger is trying to get on my good side by calling me ‘B’ instead of ‘Backup’, only increases the possibility of me being right.

“I would have asked you if he saw me in his sleep, since the time is only 6, but I just remembered that he doesn’t sleep”.

I turned around to face the old man.

“B, please…”

“I will go, Roger”. I reassured him. “But, if possible, I’d like you to give him a message from me. I’ll go because I’m the one who wants to see him, not because he called for me. And I will be able to see him after half an hour. So he’d better seat his ass down in his office and wait for me. Please transfer my exact words to him”.

Then I turned my back to him again and gazed at the sun, which had already begun to rise. Alice won’t see this sunrise ever again. Maybe it’s the last time I’m seeing this sunrise too…Who knows…?

Roger looked awkwardly at me for a few moments, until it seemed he had run out of words to say, and walked towards the interior of the orphanage.

Just like I told Roger, I went to L’s office after half an hour.

“You wanted to see me, Lawly?” I asked.

I sat on one of the chairs that stood across his desk without asking for permission. Besides, coming to his office has become a daily routine for me. One time because of his remarks, another because of the tests, another because of my own complaints for Alice…I mimicked the bizarre way he has adopted to sit. I know it irritates him when I copy him, even though he’s making an impossible try to hide it.

“I asked to see you thirty-two minutes ago, Backup”.

“I would have told you that I’m sorry I couldn’t come earlier, but that is something I doubt you’ve been in your entire life. And as your successor, my behaviour must be similar to yours”.

“Then I am glad to announce to you that I am lifting the weight of the successor’s position off your shoulders”.

This is it!

“Roger, Watari and myself have been discussing for you and the incidents you have caused in the past, yesterday”. He continued with that monotone that I felt, was piercing my ears. “Your supposed jokes to the rest of the children and the professors, the violence in and out of the classroom, and lest we not forget the incident with the hammer that almost cost Pierre his life, just because he directed some offensive words at Alternative. Without of course, putting aside Near’s almost strangulation. Yes, in case you were wondering, I was informed about that as well. Thus, after a time-consuming conversation, we decided that you are deemed inappropriate for the succession program. We had been mistaken to choose you in the first place. A few hours after Alternative’s funeral you will be sent to Hawppers Asylum”.

I expected everything from him. I expected him to send me off to another orphanage until I’m considered an adult. I expected him to abandon me in the middle of nowhere. I even expected him to send me to prison with the excuse that he suspects me for Alice’s death. But not this! I am not going to the Asylum. I’m not crazy!

“You can’t!” I shrieked, surprised, losing my composure much sooner than I’d like.

“You might be forgetting, Backup, that seven years ago, after your aunt’s murder from you yourself, it was Wammy’s House who intervened for the avoidance of your registration to the Asylum”.

“Why does it matter if Aunt died because of me or because of something else in a week? Her numbers had almost run out anyway!” I shouted.

“Moreover…” He went on. “We previously chose to ignore your obsession with the ‘numbers’ and the death of people in favour of your insertion to the program. Now, however, this is only added to the reasons why we believe that a change of environment is necessary for you”.

“It’s not an obsession. I’ve been trying to explain it to you for so many years that I know!” I jumped off the chair and stood up straight, “I know when everyone is going to die. I know when you are going to die, L Lawliet!”

“The fact that you, sometime in the past, when there were no special electronic security measures, could have hacked into Wammy’s House’s database to learn my real name wouldn’t surprise me at all. I’ve never doubted your intellect. The only aspect of you I doubt is your logic”.

“I’m not going to the Asylum! I’m not crazy!” I insisted, almost desperately.

“I’m afraid you have no choice, Backup”. He tells me indifferently. “You are not yet an adult, nor can you be considered mentally stable anymore. The good news is that you won’t need to pack. The staff there will provide you with any clothing you might need. Even a straightjacket, depending on your behaviour”.

As much as it pained me to admit it, he’s right about the choice matter. He’s an adult and I’m not. It is Wammy’s House that is considered my caretaker, at which L is basically calling the shots, so I’m unable to prevent his decision. But that doesn’t mean I’ll go down that easily.

Despite the anger and desperation I was feeling at the moment, I bended my head over his desk and smiled at him. I smile like a God of Death, Aunt used to say.

“If you think that by locking me up in a simple asylum you’ll get rid of me, you’re having very vivid hallucinations, Lawly”.

I look above his head. I haven’t checked on his numbers for a very long time now.

2817660…

He doesn’t have much time left…

Only about three years… I need to act quickly on my plan…

“I won’t be sitting idle for long. And when I’m into the game again, I guarantee you’ll be looking for a place to hide. All your work and fame will fall in ruins because of me. Besides, don’t forget B is before L”.

He didn’t show any kind of reaction to my words. The only thing he did was to stare at me with his dark eyes. He didn’t even blink. Maybe he believes that the less reactions he’s giving away to me, the quicker he’ll get rid of me. It’s obvious that he didn’t take my words into serious consideration.

Well…

…Too bad for him.

Alice’s funeral is definitely not one of the happiest moments in my life.

They buried her in the orphanage’s yard (so that she can never escape this damned place, even after her death). All orphans, professors, staff and caretakers gathered around the grave in a half-circle shape.

Most of them expressed their sadness by crying. (Alice, unlike me, was liked by all the professors and the caretakers.) I mean, even Roger is crying.

Why can’t you two at least pretend, even for one time, to care about something other than yourselves?

They didn’t even bother wearing black!

L seemed to be trying to calculate how much more time the funeral would last, while little Nate stood beside him, twirling a white lock of his hair lazily. Truth be told, he didn’t know Alice that well, but I can almost swear L gave him some ‘pieces of advice’ about his behaviour before the funeral started. Despite L gazing the ground the whole time, his hand was wrapped around Nate’s shoulders, as if he was attempting to reassure him. If I didn’t know him any better, I’d say this is the picture of someone who wants to comfort his little brother during a funeral. If I didn’t know him any better…

The light breeze made whatever leaves were left on the trees sway. It was a relatively cold morning.

Autumn…Alice’s favourite season…

“B…” I heard a voice calling me.

“Yes, Mihael?”

“How…how did this happen to A? No one else knows”.

“Alice,…Mihael…” I stared at the cloudy sky for a few moments. “…Chose the liberation of death”.

The blonde boy’s blue eyes widened from surprise.

“You mean to say that…-“

“Yes. She committed suicide”.

“I’m so sorry, B. Really”. Mihael seemed genuine. (Unlike somebody else.) “I know you and her were very close friends. But…what made her do something like that?”

Poor Mihael…You’re so young and you only have seven years left…

“Ask the bright genius over there”. I answered with venom dripping off my voice and indicated the place where L was with my head. “He’ll surely know more than any of us on this matter”.

“L?” The boy asked. “What does L have to do with A?”

“You’re free to ask him. I’m sure he’ll be happy to answer”.

“I can’t ask him now anyway, the sheep’s with him”. Said Mihael and immediately a frown was formed on his face, which left when he spoke again. “Ah, B…I was thinking, now that A is…no longer with us, if, I don’t know,…if you ever feel lonely, you can always hang out with Matt and me. Or, actually, only with me, since Matt is always shoving his face in his games…”

Kids are so much fun…

I ruffled his blonde hair.

“Thank you very much, Mihael, but I’ll have to decline. You see, I won’t be here with you for much longer…I’m leaving…”

“You’re leaving?” The boy exclaimed. “When? Where will you go? Why?”

My eyes focused on the sky again. Oh, look, that cloud looks like Alice…

“Either way, not where Alice went…”

If the matter wasn’t personal before, it has surely become personal now. I promise you, Alice. I’ll surpass L for the both of us.

**Author's Note:**

> I was curious about the details of A's death, since we get to know so little about them, and decided to make a small story about it.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
